Mad Over Donuts to introduce waffles; focus on home deliveries

Mad Over Donuts, a Singapore-based donut brand, is planning to conquer India’s sweets market by introducing a range of waffles in the coming month. The donut chain is also all set to expand in India, with a focus on home deliveries.

The brand plans to take it total outlet count to 62 by this fiscal end

To attract new customers and to engage the existing ones, Mad Over Donuts has made it a bit of a norm to introduce innovative products every year. In 2015 it was Kookies, a range of beverages in 2014, Cakelings – Mad Over Donuts’ take on cupcakes – in 2013 and the novel Bites in 2012, which is the brand’s premium gift box with bite-sized donuts. All innovations so far have been well received.

COO, Mad Over Donuts, Tarak Bhattacharya, says, “Every 45 days, Mad Over Donuts introduces a range of limited-time flavours that are not part of its regular menu. These flavours are especially created based on customer feedback and seasonality. But to attract new customers and to engage existing ones, this year, we are also launching waffles in the month of November.”

Donut Continues To Be The Hero

Unlike Dunkin’ Donuts, which has introduced a range of savoury products like burgers and wraps, Mad Over Donuts has decided to stay true to its base and will not expand its menu to include complementary offerings.

Bhattacharya says, “We always serve everything that complements our main product – donut-like-cookies, and cupcake coffee. We have no plans to shift our focus from our main hero – the donut.”

Home Delivery – A Lucrative Option

Despite so many innovations in terms of flavours, donut as a category is still considered to be at a very nasscent stage, despite the fact that over a period of time, consumers have developed a liking for the sweet offering. To popularise it further, Mad Over Donuts has introduced home delivery, something which actually helped the brand trigger further sales.

“The biggest challenge when the brand was launched was to introduce donuts in a market where this concept did not exist at all. People were only used to the plain sugar donut that was one of the many items at their local bakery. Mad Over Donuts did a lot of sampling to expose customers to the variety the brand had to offer and fortunately has never looked back,” says Bhattacharya.

He further adds, “In the last 90 days our sales from home-delivery have gone up from mere 2-3 per cent to 12-15 per cent. So, I must say that home delivery has helped the brand grow.”

Future Plans

Mad Over Donuts has opened six new outlets this fiscal and three more are in the construction phase. The brand plans to take its total outlet count to 62 by this fiscal end.

Bhattacharya reveals, “We are planning to take the total outlet count to 62 by this fiscal end and plan to add 25-26 more outlets the next fiscal.”

He further adds, “As the people have accepted the brand and donuts now, so it is the right time to expand. We are also planning to explore other cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai.”

Festival Special

Just like every year, Mad Over Donuts has introduced an array of flavours which are an amalgamation of Indian mithai and traditional donuts.